When it comes to the CBSE Class 12 English exam, students take it for granted and relax during the preparation phase. It is understandable since they have more important subjects to concentrate on. However, no one could guarantee a pass mark in English without effort.
So, it is a must to focus more on the language subjects. The students should follow a specific set of strategies to score more marks. Therefore, crucial planning and effective learning can help students attain maximum marks in their Class 12 English Term 2 examination. In this article, we will be discussing how to achieve maximum marks by following simple tips and tricks.
CBSE Class 12 English Term 2 Syllabus
Before diving deep into the topic, the students should know about the topics they have to study for their examination. In short, they have to have an overview of their syllabus to plan accordingly. So, let’s have a look at the syllabus of the Class 12 English Term 2 exam:
- Reading comprehension:
The students are given two passages under this section. They are:
- Unseen passage – contains descriptive, factual or literary content in it. The marks awarded for this section are 8 marks.
- Case-based unseen passage – which is a factual passage. It contains 6 marks.
- Creative writing skills:
There are two different tasks provided in this section. They are:
- Short writing tasks which are of 3 marks. It contains formal and informal invitation cards or replies to invitations.
- Long writing tasks which are of 5 marks. It consists of a job application letter and reports writing.
- Literature:
To assess the students’ comprehensive abilities, questions were asked based on texts or extracts from any history books or literature. It is also to test the students’ analysis, inference, exploration, and appreciation skills. The following is the information about the weightage of marks in this section:
- Book: Flamingo (Prose) – 11 marks
- Indigo
- The Rattrap
- Book: Flamingo (Poetry)
- Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
- A thing of beauty
- Book: Vistas (Prose) – 7 marks
- On the face of it
- Should the wizard hit Mommy?
- Evans tries an O level.
Intensive reading is important
While answering questions, the CBSE English students should read prose and poetry with a calm-minded attitude, which would help them develop insightful perspectives during the time examination. They should spend an optimum amount of time reading the question paper.
The students are advised to use the first 15 minutes only for reading and categorise the questions based on the difficulty levels, easy, intermediate or hard. With the help of this, the students can obtain a general idea about the questions asked in Class 12 English examination. It would help them make a rough plan.
Structuring the answers
The Class 12 students are requested to prepare for the exam functionally. They should read all the lessons mentioned in their syllabus and try to understand the basic concept discussed in each chapter.
The students would get an idea of the topics. It would make them avoid referring to books now and then. Picturing a story in mind is very important while reading prose and poems. It helps students strengthen their memory power.
Writing practice
To have better writing abilities in English, the students of CBSE Class 12 are expected to practise writing regularly. Writing practice would enhance the students’ pace and help them manage time. Another important advantage of written tests is that they will guide students to broaden their vocabularies and help them improve grammar.
Practising sample papers
To enhance the quality of preparation for the students, they are asked to perform as many sample tests or mock tests as possible. It will help the students understand the exam pattern and improve their confidence levels and make them less stressed about the exam.
Additionally, it is such a good practice to solve previous years’ question papers. This will help the Class 12 students get an overall idea of the most commonly asked questions.
Sticking to the format
The CBSE Class 12 students should have to follow a specific format for each section. So, to save time, they could memorise those formats and utilise them while writing their examination. They should also be cautious about word counts for essays.
Easy articulation
Reading the comprehension questions with an open mind would make the students perceive the concept present in the content better. An outstanding articulation will enhance writing summaries for essays and paragraph questions better. Furthermore, the students can perform a deep analysis of a particular subject matter if asked any application questions.
Keep the content well organized
For the CBSE examiner to understand the answer sheets properly, the students should keep their contents neat and organised. They should use bullet points and should highlight keywords using a different colour. They should also use headings and subheadings in a separate colour other than their content inside them.
This would create a wonderful first impression and positive attitude for the examiner towards the student and might award marks accordingly.
Practice makes perfect!
The students of Class 12 English should start practising on the very first day of the school year. It will give them ample time to correct their mistakes in weekly or monthly tests. It is better to study then and there, little by little, rather than piling everything up until the very last minute.
Remain updated!
The students are advised to follow the news channels and stay updated on current situations in this world. It will provide them with a great source of knowledge and information, which they could use in their essays or summaries during their examination.
Apart from that, reading news articles help students attain new vocabularies day by day. And a keen focus on important things that happen around the globe also makes the student wise and intelligent.
Reading is fundamental
In the CBSE English exam, reading plays a vital role. Writing and reading skills carry more weight on the examination. When a student acquires enough reading skills, he will be able to attend the exam easily and obtain more marks in areas such as reading comprehension. Since he has high reading skills, he could effectively use them to read and comprehend all the contents in the question paper at a much higher pace, saving precious time.
How to excel in grammar?
The role played by grammar in the CBSE Class 12 English exam is irreplaceable. The most vital part of any language or literature is its grammar. So, the students should have to allocate a good amount of time to grammar.
It is very common to make grammar errors, but what matters the most is what steps the students take to minimise their grammatical mistakes. The students need to practise their grammar based on their level in the English language. For example, if they know that they have a much lower grammar level, it is advisable to start from the very basics. It would strengthen their base and help them perform better at grammar shortly.
Prioritizing the attempts
While sitting for the Class 12 English exam, the students should always start with easy questions at first. After finishing all the simple ones, they can move on to medium level questions, taking a little more time and effort than the easy ones.
After ensuring all the answerable questions are attended to and answered correctly, they can then go on attempting the harder ones, which will most probably take a considerable amount of time to finish. Using this strategy would help students save an enormous amount of time. Time is the most important factor while appearing for an examination.
Acquire the language, don’t study it!
Ever since we were babies, we were never taught grammar to help us understand our native language. Likewise, the students should also improve their communication skills, rather than just studying for the board exam.
It will be very beneficial in the future when attending a job interview or even while travelling abroad for business meetings or vacations. English is an international language, and its usage worldwide is enormous.
To enhance their speaking and listening abilities, the students should listen to podcasts or talk shows in English, communicate with their classmates in English, and, if possible they should, sign up for English speaking programs or events. They have to read as many articles as possible. This alone will help them acquire tremendous amounts of vocabulary.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we need a strategic, timely plan to obtain the best possible marks in CBSE Class 12 English Term 2 exam. It is not only for this case, but we should be well organised and prepared to do anything.
Moreover, the students who are yet to appear for the boards have learned many valuable lessons from this article, such as how reading and writing practice is very decisive in attempting an exam. They are also taught the importance of time management and how to answer each question properly using special highlighters, etc.
Furthermore, we have seen how important grammar and practice sessions are. If a student follows all these strategies, there is a high chance he will obtain his dream scores in the English exam.
